The 23-year-old Northern Irishman became the sport's undisputed world number one during a season which saw him win the USPGA Championship - his second major - by a runaway eight-shot margin just like last year's US Open. He also won four other tournaments and emulated Luke Donald by topping the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Ryder Cup side of which McIlroy was part of came second in the voting, followed by their star man Ian Poulter, 53-year-old Roger Chapman and the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team.

McIlroy, named last week as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year, said: "The 2012 season was a superb one for every aspect of European golf and that comes across when you look at the names of the players in contention for the Golf Writers Trophy this year - therefore to come out on top of that list is a great honour."

Poulter was one of the key architects of the Chicago comeback, making five birdies in a row to win a vital fourball match alongside McIlroy and finishing the event with four points out of four.

Chapman enjoyed a fairytale season when he won the Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open, a double only previously achieved by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin.

The Curtis Cup victory at Nairn completed an unprecedented clean sweep of all four of the main trans-Atlantic trophies - Ryder, Solheim, Walker and Curtis Cups.